Han's uniform in TFA (spoiler)

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You know the large freighter than Han and Chewie are using in their first appearance in TFA (when it swallows up the Falcon)? Is this a former Imperial/First Order freighter? Is there any info on how Han got it?

The reason I ask is because in TFA, it looks like Han's wearing Imperial code cylinders on his jacket, and so I figure the freighter must be some old Imperial vessel and Han's wearing those cylinders so he can operate it.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Finn certainly seemed convinced that it was a First Order ship when he was stepping all over Rey to get a glimpse of it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I seem to remember hearing that Han actually attended the Imperial Academy long before ANH took place. Is this true? If so, I suppose his code cylinders could be keepsakes from his time there (though why Han would want any reminders of being in the Empire, I have no idea).

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I seem to remember hearing that Han actually attended the Imperial Academy long before ANH took place. Is this true? If so, I suppose his code cylinders could be keepsakes from his time there (though why Han would want any reminders of being in the Empire, I have no idea).

Yep, it's true. In fanon.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Ríu ríu, chíu[/B]]
The reason I ask is because in TFA, it looks like Han's wearing Imperial code cylinders on his jacket,

It's an older code, sir, but it checks out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HJ-Y8YTo8Q

 

[DEWLine]

Finn's dealing with PTSD and all its attendant issues. I don't blame him for mistaking a civilian freighter - one that looks like the interstellar version of one of those giant intermodal ships that you read about in Ships Monthly - for a First Order ship.

As for Han's work clothing, I doubt he'd want any souvenirs of his days in the Imperial Forces. And he certainly would not have been allowed to keep code cylinders, given the way he left.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ If Han managed to get ahold of a left over Imperial freighter, I'm guessing it would have been small potatoes for him to acquire the code cylinders necessary to operate it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's an older code, sir, but it checks out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HJ-Y8YTo8Q

IIRC, code cylinders aren't used for ship to ship communication. They're for crews aboard a ship or station so that they can get into secure areas and operate the systems they need to.

Although if I'm wrong please correct me.

 

[Kor]

Yep, it's true. In fanon.

It was part of the old Expanded Universe that was recently jettisoned.

I think Han's history as some kind of Imperial officer was described in Brian Daley's Han Solo trilogy.

Kor

 

[Corran Horn]

Though they do look like rank cylinders I think they're more likely supposed to be screwdriver or pen-like tools and we're only seeing the handles coming out of his pocket.

I don't have the visual dictionary but I do have the cross-sections book which has a layout of the freighter. I'll see what it says about that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Also I'm curious as to the freighter's name as well. See if you can find that out.

 

[comsol]

It's called the Eravana.

 

[Corran Horn]

It says...

Han and Chewie now operate the Eravana, a massive bulk freighter that handles like a concussed bantha. The Corellian and the Wookiee have made a fair amount of credits with their new ship, criss-crossing the galaxy carrying everything from bulk consumables needed by remote colonies to exotic fauna desired by wealthy collectors.

It's described as a Baleen-class bulk freighter manufactured by Corellian Engineering Corporation.

 

[Ithekro]

We'll probably start seeing them more and more as time goes on.

 

[Set Harth]

I think Han's history as some kind of Imperial officer was described in Brian Daley's Han Solo trilogy.

I'm sure it turned up in several sources. He had a cameo as an Imperial cadet in the comic Blood and Honor.

 

[JoeZhang]

I really cannot match it in my head with what we see on screen so I'm glad it was shitcanned.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Though they do look like rank cylinders I think they're more likely supposed to be screwdriver or pen-like tools and we're only seeing the handles coming out of his pocket.

Much apologizings for the thread bump, but...I just watched TFA again (via iTunes) and now I'm convinced they're code cylinders. You'll notice that First Order crewmembers, such as the one 'interrogated' by Kylo Ren, wear devices very similar to Han's as part of their uniforms...so that, coupled with Finn immediately pegging the Eravana as a First Order vessel, pretty much nailed it for me.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

But wouldn't Finn just assume that any ship after them would be a First Order vessel since he's a traitor and they're carrying a droid the First Order is desperate to capture?

On that note, though, if they're going to rely on primitive eyeball sensors so often, the Falcon really needs a good side view mirror on the right and a rear-view mirror on top.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But wouldn't Finn just assume that any ship after them would be a First Order vessel since he's a traitor and they're carrying a droid the First Order is desperate to capture?

Yeah, that does make sense.

But my other point still stands: First Order officers & crew wear cylinders that look just like the ones Han's wearing. Look at the poor schlub that Kylo is grilling...

 

[Reverend]

Whatever those cylinders in Han's jacket are supposed to be, they look a little too big to be rank code cylinders and those things I think tend to have little clips on the end, like the kind you get on a pen.

Costumes in Star Wars tend to have all sorts of mysterious devices and accessories without any specific purpose in mind, so I wouldn't read too much into it. They could be spare ammo, power cells, small tools, signal flares, just about anything really.

For what it's worth though, Han's cold weather jacket also has an identical set on it's breast, so odds are it has nothing to do with the ship, since that's something he'd only ever wear *off* the ship.


As for Han being an Imperial Officer: I could see him being a cadet in his youth (not unlike Sabine) but it's also worth baring in mind that at least one point, Lucas proposed that he would have been raised by Wookies on Kashyyyk, probably after being orphaned in the Clone Wars. That doesn't preclude Imperial "service", especially given that the Empire did to that world. Perhaps he was conscripted when the Wookies were enslaved? Either way I'm sure we'll find out when they do the Han Solo movie.